Last night's karaoke party pulsating under our apartment seemed to go on forever. It officially ended at 2 am but there were definitely stragglers! We were wrecked. I let everyone have a big sleep in and after a late breakfast we headed in for an early lunch in Manhattan at Bubba Gumps. We walked through rain and snow to our subway but it was a much smoother trip. We quickly located the restaurant. But getting anywhere was like wading through a massive mosh...

26th This morning we rose early for dear Donna to drive us in and get our new rental. It was raining and sleeting on the way in but after we picked up our rental it started snowing. Snow is magical and soft and drifting if you don't have to cram your suddenly excess luggage into the car ( which somehow could only fit 3 of our suitcases in the boot) in it. Hence we drove through a snow-drift with our limbs displaced by miscellaneous bags and suitcases, our fac...

( photo of the 7 yr old and his friend Isaiah standing on the church pew as wise men every time wise men were mentioned in the Christmas story. All the kids came dressed as nativity characters and took part. A great idea!!) 24th So nice to sleep in as long as we wanted this morning! Nothing planned before a 3:30 pm Christmas Eve service and then dinner with our friends the Royals. Bliss! After breakfast we played pool several times and Kara did a bit if ba...

In this AirBNB home we are staying at, our host is just amazing. We noticed this evening that she has been laundering our towels every day, and also making the beds up better than we did initially. She has dropped us into the metro and picked us up. And we also noticed that she is continuing to stock up the drinks fridge which she said was left mainly by previous guests. I am guessing she only says that so people feel free to help themselves to her food. We ...

( Today's pic is the 7 yr old playing with some astronauts at the Museum of American History during a rest.) Today we caught our first train into DC. It is going to be simple getting around. Our wonderful host Donna had dropped us to the closest metro station. We were Smithsonian-bound! There was a brisk wind chasing us on the walk to the museum of Natural History. It was a great museum as there was lots of kid- friendly exhibits and things to press and tou...